13. February 2008 by Aidan.

Check out the CreativeCamp “unconference” in Kilkenny, Ireland on Mar. 8th. This “unconference” is a free gathering for people working in the technology and creative sectors and gives attendees the opportunity to network and learn from one another. Register at http://creativecamp.barcamp.ie/

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13. February 2008 by Aidan.

There are many reasons why companies engage consultants to work with them. The primary reason being that the consultants bring some expertise or experience to the company that is not available in-house. This is most successful when there is a specific technical need for the consultant to support a project, e.g. an IT consultant to support the introduction of a new CRM or business intelligence system. With the right preparation in place and clearly defined objectives this can be a very successful relationship.

However, many companies engage consultants to develop some initiative that does not exist, or is not working, in the company today. For example, getting a consultant to come in to design a new Performance Management system or to drive an improvement initiative. These are often areas to which the management has not assigned any priority in the past and is now trying to fix quickly with the help of the external consultant. In that environment it is also common for these initiatives to become lower priority again after the consultant has left. The result is a failed implementation of a worthwhile initiative and a general feeling of scepticism among employees about what the management priorities are. In fact the situation is often worse after the project has failed than if it were never started in the first place.  

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